1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stroller, more particularly to a foldable stroller frame assembly that has a relatively small size when folded.
2. Description of the Related Art
Strollers are designed to be foldable to facilitate storage and transport.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0201626 A1 discloses a stroller that can be folded (see FIG. 2) and unfolded (see FIG. 1). A frame of the stroller includes two front legs 112 and two rear legs 132. Hinge brackets 118 interconnect pivotally lower ends of the front legs 112 to front ends of the rear legs 132. The lower ends of the front legs 112 are joined to spindles 122, which are used for mounting front casters 124 thereon. Rear wheels 136 are mounted to rear ends of the rear legs 132. Each of the support struts 150 extends between a respective one of the front legs 112 and a respective one of the rear legs 132. Each support strut 150 has a lower end pivoted to the respective rear leg 132. Each support strut 150 further has an upper end connected to the respective front leg 112 and to a respective push arm 184 of a handle 180 via a corresponding fold latch 200.
When the stroller frame is unfolded, the rear legs 132 are disposed at a shallow angle to the horizontal, the front casters 124 and the rear wheels 136 are disposed on the ground, the front legs 112 and the support struts 150 extend upwardly, and the push arms 184 extend upwardly in the same direction as the front legs 112. To fold the stroller frame, a rotatable grip 186 on the handle 180 is operated, and the push arms 184 are moved forwardly, thereby collapsing the front legs 112 and the support struts 150 toward the rear legs 132 until the push arms 184, the front legs 112 and the support struts 150 are folded on the rear legs 132.
However, when the stroller frame is folded, the distance between the front casters 124 and the rear wheels 136 is actually increased. This is due to the fact that the rear legs 132 are connected to the front legs 112 via the hinge brackets 118. Hence, when the front legs 112 are collapsed toward the rear legs 132, the front casters 124 move forward relative to the rear wheels 136 since the front casters 124 are connected to the spindles 122 on the front legs 112. The increased distance results in a larger storage space requirement for the folded stroller frame.